When it comes to providing your child with the best education, private schools are often the first choice for many parents. Private schools offer smaller classes, more individual attention, and a better understanding of how each student prefers to learn. This allows teachers to take their time and attend to the lessons in a more personal way. Private schools also provide a higher degree of safety than public schools, with almost twice as much safety and supervision due to the higher teacher-to-student ratio. Families love the fact that private schools offer a safe learning environment, with a culture that emphasizes personal responsibility and ethics.
Lower staff/student ratio allows for greater observation and intervention in case of conflict. Staff and faculty participation and focus on ethics make a noticeable difference in the school environment. According to a study conducted by the Fraser Institute, 72% of parents in private schools fully agreed with the statement that their school was safe, a factor that they said improved both the quality of their children's educational experience and their ability to achieve it. A strong sense of community and school pride is a significant advantage of a private school. Students must go through an application process to enroll, and many private schools require students to meet certain academic standards.
This way, there is a sense of pride from the moment you start the application process. The size of smaller schools and the opportunities to participate contribute to increasing the sense of community and school pride. Parents will also feel this feeling. 62% of private school parents feel that their school environment is motivating, supportive and nurturing, according to a Fraser Institute survey. Private schools are often smaller than public schools, leading to a smaller average class size. This dynamic benefits students in many different ways.
You'll often feel more comfortable sharing your opinion or venturing out to get a guessed answer in a smaller, more intimate setting. At Hotchkiss, 94% of our students are part of a sports team. This is possible in a private school with 600 students, but it would not be possible in a public school with thousands of students. These extracurricular opportunities allow your student to develop new interests, learn valuable skills, and enter a community or team that will become a vital part of their school experience. Many private schools are committed to providing financial aid options to make education in private schools an affordable and accessible alternative to public school.
Hotchkiss School provides tuition assistance in the form of financial aid awards to 33% of our students. You'll find that many private schools are happy to consider your case and offer a financial solution, especially for need-based financial aid applications. Private schools have a reputation for maintaining high standards of discipline and respect. Lower staff-to-student ratios allow for more effective observation and control of school grounds. The strong sense of community found in private schools also discourages dangerous behavior.
In the Fraser Institute study, about 72% of parents surveyed with children in the private school system fully agreed that their school was safe, which greatly improves the quality of the child's educational experience and achievement. The discipline they learn also improves their success rates in post-secondary education, when they are in control of their class attendance and achievements. The country's 34,576 private schools offer parents the ability to be more selective about the students their children will spend their days with. Part of the reason for this phenomenon is the fact that private schools can select who they allow to enter and can adapt their offers to the type of child they want to enter through their doors. In addition, because parents pay, students tend to come from a higher socioeconomic class. Public schools, except for some charter schools, cannot choose who attends. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, private high schools list stricter graduation requirements than their public school counterparts, requiring more courses to be completed.
Here are the reasons parents choose to provide their children with the unique private school experience and why it's worth the financial investment. Pianta and Ansari examined this metric, but they also took into account students' attitudes and motivation, social adjustment, and even risky behavior that can be associated with private education. With options ranging from boarding schools to alternative schools and preschools, there is almost certainly a school for each and every child. A large majority of private school students (79 percent) attend some type of school affiliated with religion. While there are many potential benefits associated with education in private schools, there are certainly some drawbacks. A total of 1.9 million children are enrolled in Catholic institutions, making it the largest component of the private school universe. Public school teachers also have a higher percentage of master's degrees (48 percent) compared to 36 percent in private schools.
On the other hand, private schools can provide the resources children need to learn and thrive. After reviewing data from more than 1,000 students, researchers at the University of Virginia found no evidence to suggest that students from low-income families and children enrolled in urban schools benefited more from private education than from public education. Factors such as ethnicity and religious background may also come into play for admission to private schools. Private schools are built around open communication between parents and management, and make it a priority to involve parents in the community. Schedule a meeting with staff at your nearest private school to learn more about opportunities available in your area.
